Vanderbilt held its second scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday, and while it was closed to the public and the media, there were some interesting tidbits that came out of the Commodores’ simulated game held at Vanderbilt Stadium.

“At times they looked really good and at times a couple of poor decisions were made,” Mason said.

He harped on turnovers in the red zone, though he did not identify the guilty parties.

“I know we’re learning through that process,” he said. “In order for us to be the type of team we want to be, everybody has got to play smart.”

Running back Ralph Webb identified McCrary as a standout performer.

“Johnny McCrary got the offense going,” he said. “He scored a couple of touchdowns. I didn’t quite see who caught the ball because I was on the other side of the field, but when Johnny McCrary was in the game we got a spark going.”

Play of the day: While specific plays were not the topic of post-scrimmage discussion, Mason was excited to report a pick-six by freshman safety Emmanuel Smith.

The Oakland alumnus returned the ball more than 100 yards for a touchdown, generating a post-practice buzz among teammates.

“That was beautiful,” senior outside linebacker Kyle Woestmann said. “That’s what you want to see from young guys — big plays. Not just that he did a fantastic job in making the interception, but he found a way to take it back over 100 yards.

“That’s just the kind of stuff that fires you up as an older guy.”

Inside linebacker Nigel Bowden said Smith had to run about 200 yards on the return as he zig-zagged across the field, picking up blocks from defenders who were walling the offense off during the return.

“Even the guys you thought were out of shape were running down the field,” Bowden said.

Improving communication: The Commodores coaching staff was pumping artificial noise through the speakers at Vanderbilt Stadium during the scrimmage, forcing players to focus on communicating in game-like conditions.

“This defense requires a lot of communication at different positions,” Woestmann said. “I think our inside backers are doing a phenomenal job. The secondary is going a good job, but we as outside backers need to step it up. That’s something that this scrimmage showed. We are a key part of the defense that has an opportunity to make a lot of big plays, and I don’t think we made a lot today. We definitely need to do a better job as a unit and be a little bit more vocal for sure.”

Most of the outside linebackers in the 3-4 scheme were defensive ends in the 4-3 scheme, a position that did not require much pre-snap communication.

Kicking game: Mason said the kicking game looked much better Thursday.

Redshirt freshman Tommy Openshaw and walk-on freshman Hayden Lekacz traded field goal opportunities to close out Thursday’s workout, with both showing good leg strength by connecting on 50-yarders.

Last scrimmage: Mason said Thursday’s scrimmage would be the last before the Commodores take the field against Temple on Aug. 28.

“There won’t be anymore scrimmages, but there will be some live situation periods where we look to work on some things,” Mason said. “We’ve got Saturday’s mock scrimmage coming up, where you go through every situation. You walk it from kickoff to end of half and end of game. Then bring them up and talk about overtime. You’ve got to cover all the bases, all the mechanics of how the game is played.”